Real records, reconstructed

Australia Reconstructed is a YouTube channel of Australian history films, made by me, Chris Rishworth. This site puts every film on a map, so you can find a story by where it happened.

What's real and what's reconstructed

Every film starts with the record: explorers' journals, newspapers of the day, court and parliamentary reports, and the photographs, paintings and maps held by Australia's libraries, archives and museums.

Where a camera was there, you see the real photograph, often restored, colourised and gently animated. Where no camera was there, the scene is an AI reconstruction built from the written record, and the film says so. Narration is an AI voice. Each film's YouTube description lists its sources and what was imagined to fill a gap.

If you spot a mistake, tell me. I'd rather fix it than leave it up.

A note on people who have died

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are advised that the films contain names, images and reconstructed depictions of people who have died. Films that do carry a warning at the start.

About the map

The map is drawn for this site, not borrowed from a map service, so nothing tracks you while you use it. Route lines are a rough guide: the Canning Stock Route follows today's track from OpenStreetMap, the Burke and Wills line runs through the expedition's known camps, and the Endeavour line follows the coast Cook charted. A few pins are approximate where the record doesn't give an exact spot, and they say so.

Where the pictures come from

Among others: the National Library of Australia and Trove, the State Libraries of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, Library & Archives NT, the Australian War Memorial and Wikimedia Commons. Coastline and borders are from Natural Earth.

Get in touch

Email hello@wildroads.com.au, or leave a comment on any film.